The Festival of Ideas 2025: Wales Confronts the Real Questions of Economic Change

On 12 November, Wellbeing Economy Cymru welcomed hundreds of people to the Swansea Arena for the second annual Wellbeing Economy Festival of Ideas – a day of honest conversations about how we redesign an economic system that is failing too many people and places across Wales.

This year’s programme brought together community leaders, public bodies, academics, co-operatives, social enterprises, activists and citizens around one core question:

What does it actually look like to build a wellbeing economy in practice – in our councils, health boards, communities, workplaces, and everyday systems?

A Morning of Straight-Talking

The Opening Session set the tone.
Speakers from across Wales explored why our economic system needs redesigning, and what that means for real-world delivery:

  • Mary Sherwood (Fairer Future / Poverty Insight Lab) on the human impacts of inequality, life on a low income, and why we must work differently with people experiencing poverty.

  • Rhydian Davies (Welsh Government) on the future economy agenda and the Foundational Economy approach.

  • Glenn Bowen (Commercial Director, Cwmpas) stepping in for Bethan Webber, on the role of co-operatives, community-led enterprise, and social business in a fairer economic system.

  • Huw Thomas and Ardiana Gjini (Hywel Dda) on the deep links between health, economics, and prevention – and why economic redesign begins long before anyone enters the healthcare system.

  • Dawn Lyle (WE Cymru) on the hard truth that our “polycrisis” is a result of economic design, and the need for values like resilience, cohesion, care and global responsibility to drive policy.

This wasn’t a theoretical discussion. It was a practical exploration of the economic choices Wales makes every day – and how we can choose differently.

A Commissioner’s Call to Be Bold

In his Commissioner’s Address, Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, emphasised that the Well-being of Future Generations Act already gives Wales the mandate it needs. The challenge now is delivery: moving from aspiration to practical action across institutions, budgets and partnerships.

Provocations That Shifted the Energy

The Provocations are designed to unsettle assumptions and push the conversation forwards.
This year featured three strong contributions:

  • Mymuna Soleman (Privilege Cafe) on inclusion, equity, representation, and the need to bring marginalised voices into the heart of system change.

  • Ceri Cunnington & Gwenlli Evans (Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog) sharing what a community-led, values-driven local economy looks like when social enterprises work together as an ecosystem.

  • Sarah Rees (Head of Oxfam Cymru) on why the shift to wellbeing economics is now urgent, highlighting inequality, gender injustice, climate realities, and the broken logic of growth-at-all-costs. (Hade Turkmen attended but did not speak.)

These provocations set the direction for the rest of the day: honest, bold, and rooted in lived experience.

The Power of Open Space: Wales Speaks for Itself

In the afternoon, the Festival moved into Open Space, facilitated by Yvonne Murphy (Omidaze). Participants created their own agenda, hosting nearly twenty conversations on the issues they believe matter most to Wales right now, including:

  • Is a Land Reform Act essential for a wellbeing economy?

  • How do we measure the impact of arts and health without reducing creativity to metrics?

  • What more could health services do to enable a shift toward a wellbeing economy?

  • How can public mapping transform participation and planning?

  • How do we build a regenerative Welsh fashion and textile system?

  • What would it look like if borrowing and sharing were core community infrastructure?

  • How can the next Welsh Government put co-operative values at its heart?

Dozens of other discussions emerged, from procurement and food systems to youth opportunities, nature recovery and community governance.

The principle was simple:
Those who show up are the right people. The issues raised are the right issues.

The Great Walk: Ground Truthing the Movement

The Festival was shaped by The Great Walk – a five-day, 150km listening journey from Barry to Swansea, led by social entrepreneur Andrew Funk. The walk brought real experiences into the room: people’s worries, hopes, and visions for Wales’ future. These stories grounded the Festival in the everyday reality of communities across South Wales.

Wales’ Wellbeing Economy in Practice

The exhibition showcased organisations already building parts of a wellbeing economy:

  • Benthyg Cymru’s sharing infrastructure

  • Black Mountains College’s climate-era education

  • EYST’s green careers pathways

  • Purple Shoots’ community enterprise

  • Public Map’s participatory mapping

  • Community Energy Wales, Down to Earth, Women in Sustainability, Living Wage Wales, PLANED, and many more

Together, these organisations demonstrated that Wales’ wellbeing economy isn’t theoretical – it’s already happening in dozens of places and projects.

What the Festival Made Clear

From every session, four themes stood out:

  1. The current economic system is driving inequality, ill health and environmental breakdown – and cannot simply be tweaked.

  2. Wales has tools, legislation and pioneering work already underway – but implementation must be bold and consistent.

  3. Real change is happening locally, often led by communities, co-operatives and values-led organisations.

  4. A wellbeing economy requires rethinking how we measure success, allocate resources, and make decisions.

Looking Ahead

The Festival of Ideas is not an end point. It is one milestone on a longer journey for Wales – a journey powered by people, relationships, values, and a shared belief that a better economic system is both necessary and possible.

The energy and insight from the day will feed into WE Cymru’s programme through 2026, including place-based pilots, new partnerships, measurement work, and continued collaboration with public bodies and communities across the country.

Thank you to everyone who walked, spoke, facilitated, listened, exhibited, challenged, and contributed.
The shift is underway. Wales is ready for a wellbeing economy – and together we’re building it.